‘Roo Attack in Ohio

As frequent readers of Cryptomundo know, we track reports of weird animal news, including animal attacks, that might have some impact on cryptid coverage, misidentifications, and media attention. This appears to be a good open-mindedly skeptical or skeptically open-minded activity to pursue.

An 80-year-old owner of an animal farm remains in fair condition in a Columbus hospital, after a kangaroo attacked him for 15 minutes at his exotic-animal collection in central Ohio. The Columbus Dispatch reported that the Marion County sheriff’s office received a 911 call on September 20, 2011, from a woman saying her father-in-law was hurt. Major Jeff Cline says the injury happened at Kokas Exotics in Green Camp, Marion County, Ohio. The victim was identified as John Kokas, who was repeatedly punched in the face and upper body.

Kokas Exotics Animals Farm was set up in 1978 and breeds animals for San Diego Zoo. The photo above is from their Facebook site.

The farm owner’s son told WCMH-TV the man was attacked by a 6-foot-tall, 200-pound male red kangaroo for about 15 minutes. The station reports the attack came at breeding time when males can be aggressive, and in this case, the male appears to have been protecting a female in heat. The kangaroo will be euthanized, according to the farm’s owner’s son.

According to the Kokas Exotics Facebook page, the company sells baby skunks, groundhogs and foxes, along with other animals – as well as, formerly, at least one kangaroo.

From the video of Kokas (here) in his hospital bed, it appears he and his son have Australian accents.

Ohio’s lax pet laws came under scrutiny last year when a bear killed its caretaker near Cleveland, Ohio.

Mystery Kangaroos have been sighted in Ohio for decades. We will have to be aware of any new reports of random Phantom Kangaroo or Devil Monkeys that issue forth from Ohio this fall. I have written about both, of course, in my book Mysterious America, for those who wish to refer to this history. I know it may come as a surprise to some, but I recommend referring to my historical gathering of material found in my books often so I will not have to repeat myself to those who are familiar with these cases and my and other folks’ investigations of these reports. Also, that generally keeps the flow of the blog postings current, but within context, to reflect the recent events with source linkages.

Loren Coleman About Loren Coleman
Loren Coleman is one of the world’s leading cryptozoologists, some say “the” leading living cryptozoologist. Certainly, he is acknowledged as the current living American researcher and writer who has most popularized cryptozoology in the late 20th and early 21st centuries. Starting his fieldwork and investigations in 1960, after traveling and trekking extensively in pursuit of cryptozoological mysteries, Coleman began writing to share his experiences in 1969. An honorary member of Ivan T. Sanderson’s Society for the Investigation of the Unexplained in the 1970s, Coleman has been bestowed with similar honorary memberships of the North Idaho College Cryptozoology Club in 1983, and in subsequent years, that of the British Columbia Scientific Cryptozoology Club, CryptoSafari International, and other international organizations. He was also a Life Member and Benefactor of the International Society of Cryptozoology (now-defunct). Loren Coleman’s daily blog, as a member of the Cryptomundo Team, served as an ongoing avenue of communication for the ever-growing body of cryptozoo news from 2005 through 2013. He returned as an infrequent contributor beginning Halloween week of 2015. Coleman is the founder in 2003, and current director of the International Cryptozoology Museum in Portland, Maine.

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